The invention relates to the field of photonic crystals, and in particular to electrically activated photonic crystal microcavity lasers.
Photonic crystals (PCs) have become increasingly important for applications in integrated photonic circuits. Many suggestions have been made on how to use PCs in directional couplers, waveguides, and LEDs. Furthermore, investigations have been done on two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal lasers with photo-pumped cavities. However, the optical pumping methods currently employed for photonic crystal lasers are inefficient, and they make it difficult to integrate the lasers with other optoelectronic devices on the same chip. As a result, the photonic crystal lasers have not been as useful as electrically activated edge emitting lasers and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). This invention addresses the creation of electrically activated photonic crystal lasers.